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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24672808">This Way Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lich_Queen/pseuds/The_Lich_Queen'>The_Lich_Queen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:07:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,599</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24672808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lich_Queen/pseuds/The_Lich_Queen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>AU, in where Gold Roger never died. Monkey D Luffy is a just common lone pirate who loves explore the world he lives in.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Speeding Meruhen Gou!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The summer's sun was high in the clear blue sky when the strange young man strolled right through the main gates of the busy shipyard and docking bay. With his head held high, he grinned and glanced around at everything and everyone.</p><p>The apprentice shipwrights, labourers and fishermen all stopped their work to watch him pass by, surprise shone on their faces; once out of earshot, they began whispering amongst themselves.</p><p> </p><p>The reason for their reaction was the appearance of the young man. He wore a simple red baggy vest, light blue jeans, which he tore up above his knees. On his feet were a cheap-looking pair of sandals; upon his head was a well worn old straw-hat, with a red sash.</p><p>Seventeen years old, Monkey D Luffy was unlike any other high-class customer, who normally would grace Goa Kingdom's finest Docks, in their best clothes. And who would not even look they way as walked through; if they did happen to look upon the workers, it was never with a smile, always a look of disgust as those workers were rats; and if a worker were to walked across their path, then there would be trouble.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy noticed some of the other customers giving him dirty looks, thinking he was a worker. A woman in a suit who lead the customers around had a pained expression on her face; she wanted to ask him to leave but knew that he too, was a paying customer; and because of this, there was nothing they could do to stop him from walking in.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy just grinned, he found the whole thing funny; to add salt in the wound, Luffy tipped his hat to a few of the other customers, they glared his way before screaming at their guide.</p><p>Chuckling to himself Luffy just moved onwards, he noticed too, that some of the workers were trying not to laugh at his little display that annoyed the Nobles. This caused him to laugh out loud, not caring who heard.</p><p>Luffy came to a halt outside Shipyard Area Number One. The best of the best Shipwrights in the Kingdom were stationed here; Luffy walked straight in and headed for the main office. He was to meet up with the Master Shipwright, who had been building his little ship/boat.</p><p> </p><p>As he walked through, he glanced around at the many ships that were being built. Some were just shells, others were half down done, while few were fully completed; short ones, tall ones, thin and fat, young and old in all sizes.</p><p>Luffy looked towards where the main offices were, and then back to the ships. Luffy grinned madly and chose to go on a little tour of the ships before heading there right away.</p><p>As he gazed at the ships all around, excitement gripped his heart. Luffy had been saving up for a ship since he was eight years of age. Or rather than saving, he was stealing; he stole off of the pirates that docked on his Island for the last nine years.</p><p> </p><p>While he never gave much thought about if he wanted a crew or not, he thought long and hard about his ship. Luffy wanted a normal stranded ship, one that could ferry at least ten people.</p><p>When the time came for him to have to put in for planning permission, he heard from a very reliable source, that Shipyard Area Number One, had bought a shipment of the rare Adam Oak. Luffy knew that the Nobles of the Kingdom would come in their thousands all wanted a ship build from this legendary tree.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy also wanted a piece of it.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy's small dream of having a normal stranded ship changed; suddenly he had a wild dream of having a small well build ship, made from the Adam Oak.</p><p>So deciding this, he did something he would not normally do; Luffy pulled some strings. Luffy went to both his Grandfather and his older 'brother', Sabo.</p><p>Luffy's Grandfather was an Admiral for the Royal Navy of Goa Kingdom. Once upon a time, Monkey D Garp had been serving as Vice Admiral for the Marines, however, his failure to capture Gold Roger on many occasions forced him into an early semi-retirement.</p><p>It was said that, after Garp left, Gold Roger would do outrageous things just to bring the old man out to 'play' with him. The Pirate King was not told that Garp was now working under the Royal Navy of his home Island, in fear he would leave the New World and come into East Blue waters.</p><p> </p><p>After Garp semi-retirement seven years ago, he began more of a father to Luffy and more at ease with Luffy's choices in life. Such as Luffy wanted to become a pirate; just as long as he never became those pirates who murdered in cold blood. Luffy had promised his Grandfather that he would be just a travelling pirate, who would explore new lands.</p><p>Luffy's older 'brother' was a High Noble of the Goa Kingdom; the pair were not blood brother but shared a childhood together. Through this bond, they began 'brothers' by oath. Sabo worked in his family business, and was gaining many approvals from some of the higher-ups; Sabo, however, had never flexed his muscles of his position but was more than willing for Luffy's sake.</p><p> </p><p>Both Garp and Sabo jumped at the change to help Luffy out, since he never wanted much from them, other than being called family.</p><p> </p><p>With the two powerhouses on his side, Luffy had gotten an appointment. Many long and sometimes boring meetings Luffy had a designer draw up a ship blueprint based on everything he had talked about with them. Weeks later he was shown the design and fell in love with his little ship/boat that was not yet made.</p><p>Luffy gave them the go-ahead on the very same day they showed him the plans; the people were shocked by this, and on asking why, they told Luffy that most people send the plans back three or four times, even if they like the first one.</p><p>But because of Luffy's choices to go with the first plans straight away, his ship would be one of the first to be made; that was a year and a half ago.</p><p> </p><p>"Master Luffy?!" A voice called out from nowhere Luffy blinked and glanced around for the owner of the voice. "Master Luffy! Come down from there!" Luffy looked down and saw a tall man in a black suit running up the stairs, he was Luffy's guide: Sony.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy sighed, which was followed by a pout, as he knew his little self-tour was over. Still, he had fun while it lasted.</p><p> </p><p>"Master Luffy, you are meant to wait in the lobby for me to take you to the main office!" The suited man said a little breathless from running.</p><p>Luffy grinned at the man, "Yeah, I know. But this way was a lot more fun." Luffy laughed at the way Sony's jaw dropped.</p><p>"W..well, please come this way," Sony said shaking his head, and held out a hand to guide Luffy down the stairs, "And as you requested, we brought the Master Shipwright a lot as well. Though this is highly improper." Sony followed Luffy down the long flight of stairs, wondering if the young man heard anything he just said.</p><p>"Its fine, it's fine," Luffy said with a large grin as he hurried down. "I'm looking forward to meeting him." Normally the Master Shipwright would never meet with customers, being the one who worked only behind the scenes of the ship's project; people like Sony who were paid to meet and greet the customers. But Luffy had insisted on meeting the person responsible for building his ship.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy and Sony came up to the main office, outside there was an old man wearing overalls; as the pair neared him, he greeted them with a rough uneasy smile.</p><p>The Master Shipwright stepped forwards, "We were just talking about you..boy... Master Luffy." The last part was added quickly as Sony cleared his throat.</p><p>Few men were gathered around the outside of the main office, all openly watching Luffy, they were there to support their boss should this 'Master Luffy' do everything to him. It had been known in the past, that some people would have the Shipwrights in chance fired if the work was not to their liking.</p><p>Sony shot them a disapproved frown, before glaring hard at them, in hopes they would more away. They stood their ground.</p><p>Luffy was oblivious to the heated stares, and gave them a large toothy grin, before waving wildly at them. The men blinked, and unsure of what to do, sending awkward smiles back his way.</p><p> </p><p>"Ready to see your ship?" The Master Shipwright asked with a more relaxed smile because he saw Luffy's grinned, a warm one that held no disgust; also The Nobles would turn their noses up at the workers here, and yet this young man greeted them like humans.</p><p>"Yeah!" Luffy shouted suddenly, pumping his fists into the air, then bringing them back down with a loud laugh, his grin had taken over his face; this random act caused most around him to jump in fright.</p><p>"This way please, Master Luffy," Sony said being the first to recover while trying to keep his professional smile on his face, but his left eye now had a twitch, and completely ruin the look.</p><p> </p><p>Luffy laughed as he followed Sony and the old shipwright, his head turned in every direction. He kept running in front of them, and then to the rear; Luffy had seen most of the place when he entered, but never saw anything that could have been his ship. He could not get the grin off his face.</p><p> </p><p>"Here we are," Sony said with a sigh of relief, he jested his hand forwards a large, closed-off docking bay, which had water filled almost to the top. Luffy's grin just got bigger as he moved closer.</p><p> </p><p>It was then Luffy noticed a tiny boat shape tied under a heavy-looking cover and froze in his place. The others who came with him, Sony, the Master Shipwright and some of the workers walked on over to it, confirming that this was it.</p><p>Luffy half walked, half run over to where they stood; he could barely contain his excitement as he started jogging on the spot and clapping his hands, even before he saw how the ship/boat came out.</p><p>The Master Shipwright walked over to the smallest 'ship' he had even made; grabbing hold of the heavy cover, he pulled and lifted. The old man could not help but smile at the reaction of the young man; Luffy was was all but screaming at the sight, fists tighten by his side, mouth open wide, eyes seemed to shine with joy.</p><p> </p><p>"Oi! Oi! Oi!" Luffy shouted as he ran forwards, he began to bob up and down, and move left to right as he wanted to see everything at once, "Is this really mine!" Luffy cried out, turning to the Master Shipwright, "Its <em>WAY~</em> better than the designs." Luffy suddenly had tears of happiness running down his cheeks, "<em>THANK YOU SO</em> <em>MUCH</em>!", he covered his arm over his face, as he tried to wipe the streams away.</p><p>The old shipwright also had tears in his eyes, this was the first time in his life that someone had thanked him for his work. "You are welcome." The old master said softly, but no one heard him.</p><p> </p><p>The was a small one-man ship, was about the same size as an overly large bathtub. It's 'deck' was deep enough for Luffy to sit comfortably inside, his chest and shoulders would show if sited upright.</p><p>Inside, on neither side of the curves of the ship, were oars hooked along its length. Two larger hooks were a folder on the underside, parallel to each other, these were where the oars would go when rowing; they twisted around with loose nuts when needed.</p><p>Its end was raised up; each side it came smoothly down into the 'ship' like a backrest. On moving this backrest downwards and across the length on the 'deck', two doors came into view; this was the storage space. Upon the top of the raised op part, three sliding doors could be made up. On long one closest to the 'deck', two square ones right at the back.</p><p> </p><p>In the centre on this raised up part, was a tall mast, much taller than the boat itself; running through it were long poles, and ropes. They all connected at the base. At had two triangle sails, one large at the front, and a smaller one at the back.</p><p>It was the colour of bronze, with a thick silver lining. The figurehead was a bright bronze colour; the figurehead itself was a panda bear face with soft two shades of bronze and a heavy shape of silver. Its ears were long and pointy like an elf and coming from it. From the figurehead, and covering parts the sides, was crafted three butterflies shaped wings; six in total. However, the detail into these wings was like a dragonfly or bee.</p><p> </p><p>"So Master Luffy." The Master Shipwright said with a proud bold grin, "Have you thought of a name for her yet?"</p><p>"Yes, I have!" Luffy said as he grinned at him; he turned back to his 'ship'. Slowly the straw-hat wearing youth walked over to the figurehead and placed his hand on top of its head. "Speeding Meruhen Gou! Nice to meet you, Meruhen Gou! From this moment on, I'll be in your care!"</p><p> </p><p>Monkey D Luffy was about to start his life at sea, as a wandering lone pirate.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Darkness Of The Night!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Speeding Meruhen Gou calmly drifted in the wide-open sea, its sail already folded for the cold night. The soft air which blows across the waters, rocked the tiny ship gently, causing it's tired captain to smile.</p><p>The day had been a long and hard one; while the sea was still now, most of it had been filled with gusty winds, causing high waves. The captain of this ship had to be focused the whole time, as the winds shown no mercy; he does not even have enough time to eat.</p><p>Luffy had his legs dangling over the edge and crossed at the ankles, his straw hat gave him a little protection from the fading light of day. His stomach growled its displeasure, but he could not do a thing to settle it; as his food stock ran out two days ago, and was just living the fish he was able to catch with his nets and fishing pole.</p><p>Luffy grinned through the pain. Lifting his head slighting Luffy watched the last moment of the setting sun; it caused an array of colours that highlighted on the clouds. Pinks, reds, oranges and yellows. It was the most beautiful sight.</p><p>Laughing lightly he glanced beside himself; there was a large box camera. During his farewell party that Sabo had set up for him; his Grandfather had given him the box camera, demanding that he had sent pictures of the places he finds breathtaking, back home.</p><p>The large box camera took up a lot of room when it was out. Thankfully his Grandfather thought ahead. Without Luffy's knowledge, Garp the asked the designers for some slight changes in the plans. The ship was actually a lot bigger then it looked; under the surface of the water, the little ship was larger, this gave Luffy a lot more space to store things.</p><p>Almost lazily he leaned over, wanting to put the box camera away; soon he realized that he would not able to put it in the where the double of the 'back seat' was, as it was already filled; the box camera lived under him anyway.</p><p>With an epic pout, Luffy forced himself up and out of his comfortable spot; standing he felt a little weak from hungry; he slid the 'back seat' up, hiding the double doors from view. Reaching down where the 'back seat' had just been, and what he was sitting on; Luffy unclipped some hidden locks, before opening this trap door, he grabbed the box camera and place it back into its home.</p><p>Finished he shut the trap door and locked it quickly, before flopping down suddenly against the 'back seat', causing the ship to rock from side to side. Luffy laughed with each rock until it was still once more.</p><p>Luffy gazed up, the sun was gone, the sky was still light but it was quickly going. "Mmmmm... this would be a good time to get my lantern..." Luffy said to himself as he leaned forward and reached for yet another smaller door, that was along the inside of the ship.</p><p>The first night Luffy had set sail, he did not even think about getting the lantern out. And as soon as the sun went down, Luffy found himself in total darkness. Another problem was that he still had his sail high up; he had tried to settle for the night, but he could not move from the sails and he was sailing blind, though he knew there was no island around, it was still an experience he does not want to go through again. The fact that he almost fell overboard did not help.</p><p>In the end, Luffy has stayed in his sailing position the whole night; there had been no moon that night, and it was only the bright stars in the heavens that let him know which way was up and down, where the sky ended and water began.</p><p>After much practice over the last couple of weeks, Luffy learnt to get his lantern out just before the light was gone completely. He also tied a rope around himself and practiced blindfolded putting his sail away and wrapping the ropes up.</p><p>With the lantern secured overhead, Luffy pulled out the day's newspapers, that the Messenger Gull had left. Luffy had shouted over the wind, saying that he would pay the next day. The Messenger Gull understood and placed the newspapers down the side of the ship.</p><p>Now that the sea was nice and still, Luffy could read with no worries, before turning in for the night. Normally he would just glance through quickly, stopping to read only things of interest that caught his eye.</p><p>There were two forms of Pirate's Daily. One that was worldly news, and four which was local for the Four Seas. The local newspaper was always tucked inside of the thicker worldly one. Luffy placed his local, The Eastern Pirate's Daily, between his knees; tonight Luffy did not have to search the pages, the front cover was of great interest.</p><p>"Is The Pirate King Gold Roger On The Attack?" Luffy read aloud the headline; he pulled it closer to his face, "The infamous pirate known as the Pirate King has, at last, started to move after years of living in the New World. Gold Roger, his crew and those who call themselves his allies have all been sighted moving away from the New World waters and are heading into the Four Seas. The Marines say: 'blah blah blah' …"</p><p>Luffy leaned back closing his eyes, and sighed out loud; he knew well the many theories the marines and World Government threw around, as he heard a lot from his Grandfather over the years. Half the things said by then were non-sense; Luffy opened to the page where the story continues and ran his eyes over the words until he found what the pirates thought.</p><p>"...Complete control over all pirates?" Luffy mumbled with a frown; the pirate's words had just as many theories as to the marines and World Government did, "...War with the Four Seas..Looking for a missing person...Pirate Prince wants to kill Pirate King for the throne of the seas...'blah blah blah'."</p><p>The young pirate yawned loudly in a bored manner, he cared little about the big names; as a lone pirate, Luffy need not worry about what's happening in the world or pirate world. The other pirates would only bother him if he bothered them or had a bounty that was bigger than theirs.</p><p>Luffy set the world newspaper to one side, deciding to read it more fully under the light of day; he then grabs a hold of the local newspaper, from between his knees, and glances through it; yawning again, this time tiredness was creeping in.</p><p>As Luffy glanced through, he saw that it like the day before; nothing ever happened in East Blue.</p><p>But there were two top news stories, that stood out: First, there was a thief stealing off pirates at ports and docklands, leaving a note behind which bared the mark of one of the strongest pirate crews in these waters; Fishermen Pirates.</p><p>Second, was talking about a strange new Pirate Hunter lurking. The newspapers wrote why this hunter was so odd; he went after any bounty, where it was more common for hunters to go after the bigger bounties. East Blue bounties were the lowest of the Four Seas, and for pirates or other criminals to have theirs at two digits was a big thing.</p><p>Luffy lifted the newspaper up; there was a photo of the hunter taken in secret. Under the dim light, he could just about, make out a picture of a young green-haired man, dressed in dark green trousers and white shirt, three swords rested beside him.</p><p>Luffy was about to turn the page when he noticed lights in the distance. Straighten up, Luffy shoved the newspaper where the other was, and reached over a little compartment, here was where his telescope was kept.</p><p>Luffy carefully bought the telescope to his right eye, and squeezed his left shut; he twisted the scope, adjusting the zoom. Luffy blinked into the scope, he could make out three lights; on twisting again he eye saw the side of a large ship. Luffy followed the ship with his scope and hovering over the ship's lights for a moment longer than the rest of the ship.</p><p>At last, Luffy found the ship's mast, and followed upwards; he was pleased to found another light pinned at the top with the crow's nest, it gave him a clear look at their flag.</p><p>In the cold breeze of the night, a Jolly Roger was seen; A small skull and crossbones, with two larger, marks neither side. Luffy slowly lowered his scope and grins; his stomach growls painfully.</p><p>Luffy dropped his scope, he heard it hit the deck but his mind only that one thought: Food. Where their people are, there is food.</p><p>Luffy reached for the hooks and pushed them into place. Oars were at the ready. Standing carefully he turned off his lantern and slowly sat down. Leaning against the figurehead Luffy blindly took a firm hold of the oars handles; Luffy started rowing with his full strength, long hard strokes moved Meruhen forwards, Luffy levelled out his breathing so he could keep going at a good pace; he kept gazing over his shoulder from time to time, making sure he was still on course.</p><p>Luffy had no way of telling how long he rowed in that endless darkness. He would have laughed in joy when the black waters lit up around him if he had not been so hungry; he twisted his whole upper body and looked up, he was there at last.</p><p>Gritting his teeth, Luffy rowed the final few yards and bumped into the chain for the anchor. Luffy made quickly work with his ropes; he tied both the front of Meruhen and at her end.</p><p>Luffy took in a deep breath in his aching lungs, trying to gather his remaining strength; then he leapt upwards. He clung into the icy metal chain and getting a good grip, Luffy slowly climbed up, soft laughter escaped his lips as he did.</p><p>Grinning Luffy reached up one arm and held on to the hold where the chain disappeared inside the ship, and pushed his body up; his other arm came up and held on to a wooden frame. Luffy's grin stretched impossibly wide as he lowed his body down, causing his arm to seemingly grow in length; suddenly he shoots upwards and rolled into the air, his feet landed quietly on the large deck.</p><p>Luffy stood tall and allowed his eyes to roam the limited lit deck. He spotted two men sleeping side by side; Luffy walked towards them, and he neared his toes bumped into something, on looking down he saw a beer bottle rolling away from him. As his eyes grew to this lighting, Luffy could see more and more bottles of beer all around the sleeping pair.</p><p>Walking to the stairs, he had a view of the rest of the decks. A ship of this size should have many people on the watch, yet there was no movement, nor any sound. Luffy turned his gaze upwards, to the crow's nest; someone should be there, there can't be only these two drunkards.</p><p>Luffy tightens his fist, bringing his arm beside him. In one swift move, Luffy's arm began to grow longer and longer as it stretched; still having full control of his hand, he got hold of the edge of the crow's nest. He bought his other hand around and placed it on his outstretched shoulder joint, and tugged. Luffy's body followed his hand, fast.</p><p>Luffy made a little sound as he crashed head-on into the top of the mast, where the flag flew. The impact did not hurt him, it never did, but still sound comes out of his mouth whenever he went into things.</p><p>Luffy slid down the mast, rear hitting the bottom of the crow's nest. As he pulled himself to his feet, he heard a small whimpering noise. Luffy bent his whole body to one side, to look around the mast; there was a large man sitting on the other side, back against the wall, he was staring up at Luffy in fright; under the poor light of the lantern above them, Luffy could see that the man had fouled himself.</p><p>Luffy blinked at the man, then crossed his arms over his chest. This man too was a drunkard, and Luffy could only guess that his little rocket move had scared the pirate awake.</p><p>Coming round the mast and over to the man, Luffy's nose wiggled in disgust, as the odour of stale beer, sweat, urine and other bodily fluids, hit him. The man whimpered loudly and started with his hands, to look for something on the floor; the smelly man grabbed below him and waved a flare gun in the air, laughing mockingly at Luffy.</p><p>Luffy lightly kicked out, and the man dropped it on the floor; he gasped loudly as if he could not believe just happened. Luffy leaned forwards and slammed his fist on the top of a greasy head; the man fell to the side right away, knocked out.</p><p>"<em>Stinks~</em>" Luffy moaned aloud as he jumped to the edge, holding his nose tightly. "These must be the Stinky Pirate... Crew..." Luffy trailed off as he saw something, "What's <em>that~</em>?!" Luffy was staring at trees. In the darkness of the night, there were trees alongside the pirate's ship, Luffy had not noticed that they had been anchored on an island.</p><p>"shishishi" Luffy snickered to himself as he saw through the tree, a glow of a campfire. "Campfires mean food." Luffy leapt off the crow's nest, halfway through the air, he bought his arm to his body and stretched it out once again, aiming for the trees. His aim was true.</p><p>A rush of wind went passed his face, as he swung towards the dark forest. He did not bring himself upwards to another tree, instead, he lowed himself down and run along the ground, before returning his arm to place.</p><p>Running full speed, Luffy followed the glow. As he grew closer, voices and laughter were heard a far off; the sound of many people echoed through the forest, giving an eerily feel to the air.</p><p>Luffy slowed down to a trod, and when to an odd power walk; moving silently forwards, the roar to the burning fire reach Luffy's ears now. Then, another smell hit him, this one was more pleasing to Luffy; it was the smell of meat.</p><p>He came out through the trees, to a large opening. Forty pirates sat around the fire, with meat and drink in their hands; all talking, shouting and laughing at once. Some to one side were fighting each other, in hand to hand cobalt.</p><p>Luffy crept towards the group closest to him and sit right in amongst them. He grabbed a piece of meat that was sitting on a large leaf before a huge muscley man; then ate, while listening to the pirates all around him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Meat Eater!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Clove Cliff Island was an uninhabited island that was filled with rich green woodlands. These woodlands were often mistaken for a forest; its tall trees reached high into the sky so that on a clear day, it could be seen miles away. This beautiful island, untouched by man, was protected by its coasts. With the white chalk cliffs on every side, it was almost impossible to land.</p><p>But once in a blue moon, the tides would lower, allowing some to enter.</p><p>A little inland of this forest-like woodlands, a huge fire <em>blazed</em>. The normally cold dark night was aglow with the fire's light; showing that the trees around the area had been ruthlessly been cut down to fuel this flame.</p><p>The trees that had not been cut down, their leaves were being blackened as the winds carried the flicking flames and thick ash their way. The woodland's ground also had been eaten away by the heat.</p><p>The men that were camped around it, cared nothing for the woodland's damaged, which would take years for it to recover from. They only cared for their meal and warmth from this chilly night.</p><p>The Double Skill Pirates were having a mighty feast as if they were holding a celebration. The meat which was cooking on the fire was some of the finest cuts around. Fruits and vegetables were roughly chopped and placed alongside the meat; the smell of mixed spices filled the air. They drank from bottles some the best beer, wine, and other wide range of spirits.</p><p>The reason for this band of pirates having such goods, was because they had raided a large merchant's ship. The timing could not have been better; not only had they found a treasure worth thousands, but they also have gotten word that they were to meet up with their sister crew, whom they had not seen in over six months</p><p>The Double Skill Pirates was really a large crew of two ships, one ferried marksmen, while the other ship carried aboard skilled swordsmen. The crew that was partying into the night, were the crew of marksmen.</p><p>One of the two captains of the Double Skill Pirates had sat above his crew, overlooking them of some moss-covered rocks. The rowdy pirates had made tiny fires everywhere, all gathering around them in different groups. They shouted, screamed, and laughed as one; words and other sounds mixed together as one, making the many sounds unreconcilable from one another.</p><p>Captain Buulett was an obese captain, his brown clothes were pulling against the fat, tearing in some places. Strapped around his back was wore out brown leather belts, this held his pistols. The man's large belly hanging low, it spilled out from his white undershirt, as he moved to lean forwards to grabbed another juicy meat from its mountain high pile.</p><p>As the large man sat back up, he pushed his longish light brown hair out of his face, with his free hand; he snorted loudly as he bit into the meat's flesh. Chewing with his mouth wide open, the meat was rolling around inside.</p><p>Sitting a little lower on the rocks, was the First Mate; from here he had a great view of the bits of meat flying out of the larger man's mouth. He could only sit and watch in disgust, his captain had asked him not to move from his spot.</p><p>Dice, unlike his so-called captain, was a fit and healthy man who had far more skills as a marksman than his lazy captain. He also had more control and respect over most of the crew than Captain Buulett.</p><p>Dice had not joined The Double Skill Pirate for Buulett. It was for the older brother and the second Captain of this crew. Captain Logitech had command of the swordsmen side of the crew, he was bringing these two skills together from all over the Blue Seas, in order to let out for the Grand Line with the very best under them.</p><p>While Captain Logitech was skilled and a good leader, his younger brother was a leach who reaped the benefits of his brother's hard work.</p><p>Admittedly Captain Buulett had some skill with his pistol, his aim was good as long as he was sitting still. But in a real battle, that needed a lot of footwork, he was useless; he let his crew and his First Mate do all the work.</p><p>Dice took his eyes off of his captains and slowly bought his meal up to his lips; while eating he kept glancing towards his four pistols at his hips. He was meant to keep watch over his captain, encase of an attack, so he forced himself to look up and stared at Buulett.</p><p>Keen eyes caught movement behind his captain, those eagle-like eyes followed a straw-hat wearing youth, who had just walked into the camp, from the direction of the ship; Captain Buulett suddenly leaned forwards, his fat gut blocked the youth from Dice's view, then an enormous sound erupted from under the large man.</p><p>Dice gritted his teeth and closed eyes, the youth was forgotten. Standing, Dice jumped down off of the rocks and started heading towards the silent forest.</p><p>"Where the hell are you going, Dice?!" Buulett roared as he noticed the neatly dressed man leaving. The Captain narrowed his beady little eyes, waiting for a reply.</p><p>"For a walk." Dice said without turning around, even though he had the order to stay with the captain, he wanted to clear his head. "Pentax can take over from me." He continued as he held his pistols, trying to calm himself. A grunting sound of approval let Dice carry on with his walk.</p><p>Buulett grinned, not really caring if his First Mate was there or not, no one could get on the island without a large ship. He only wanted to keep the man under his thump; still, he knew that as long as his brother was here, Dice would keep following him.</p><p>His grin widens as he thought of his brother. Soon he would hear the final word from Logitech, then they would be on their way to having a lot of money. The maps and fake agreements were already drawn up, and were in his Captain's Room back on the ship. There may be some people they needed to kill once they returned to that place with his brother, which was no problem for him or his crew. No one could stand against forty-seven highly skilled marksmen!</p><p>"Everybody eat up!" Buulett shouted as loud as he could, standing and holding a piece of meat high in the air. They cheered in reply. As Buulett plopped back down, he noticed someone running from group to group, which was not unusual; what was unusual was that he was not wearing his pistol holder.</p><p>Shaking his head, Buulett went back to eating, choosing to pay no attention to the straw-hat wearing boy, seeing as he was young; he would have to learn the hard way, that keeping your pistol on you at all times in this crew, could mean the difference of living and dying.</p><p>'Tiny Greg' as he was known, sat crossed legged at the edge of his group; he never spoke, choosing only to listen to their words. The ones around about him talked about the day's raid on the merchant's ship, what they did as they took over it and how many they shot or killed.</p><p>Tiny Greg was a large man, easier overtaking everyone in his group. This largeness was not in the same way of his Captain; he was overly tall and wide, with muscles upon muscles of muscles. While most of the crew used pistols and rifles, he was powerful enough to hold a canon on his shoulder and fire it, without fallen or hurting himself.</p><p>Tiny Greg finished his sixteenth piece of meat and reached down for another. He blinked and blinked again. He was sure that he had at least twenty pieces left, as well as other bits of food. But all that was left of his meal, was the large leaf he had used as a plate.</p><p>Tin Greg frowned deeply slowly he glanced around at his mates, who were enjoying their food. He came to one conclusion; they were eating his food. He stood with a roar and lunged at the one closest to him.</p><p>Pirate twins Bob and Todd tried to walk together. The two thin blonde men had each their arm wrapped around the other's shoulder. And in their free hands, they each held a large piece if neat on it's bone. The pair moved drunkenly through their crew members, their pistols holders kept bumping into other's heads, causing them to be yelled at.</p><p>"...and it went a little something like this..." Todd said as he waved his meat around in circles above his head. "Or was it like this?" He continued to say, as he swung it in front of his chest.</p><p>"No, no." Bob said to his twin, and bought his own meat up and hit his brother's piece, "More like this." The pair started to smack the meat together, and waving it around in mock sword play, laughing madly as they poked the other's chest with the bone.</p><p>Bob's blue eyes lit up with glee, as Todd fell forwards a little. And bringing his meat up, he planned to strike Todd across the face; grinning at his idea, Bob pulled away from under his brother's arm and swung his arm down to Todd's awaiting face.</p><p>Only empty air went passed Todd's face, and Bob's hand brushing lightly against his nose.</p><p>Bob's eyebrows rose as he gazed at his hand, which held nothing. He opened and closed it, still, it was not there. Slowly he looked behind himself, seeing if it fell there.</p><p>Todd blinked before a smirk appeared. He had realized what his brother had tried to do and what happened. Letting a sudden war cry, he brought his own meat down as hard as he could. Bob shouted and backed up as Todd's hand came round with the meat.</p><p>The pair stood blinking stupidly at each other, as Todd stood there holding his outstretched arm in front of Bob; in his hand was nothing.</p><p>The two stayed like that for a moment, just staring, before bursting in laughter.</p><p>"We need to restore our weapons!" Bob declared to the world, as he pumped his fist in the air, this was followed with more laugher. Todd mirrored his brother and fell onto his brother's side, placing his arm around Bob's shoulder once again. Bob and Todd then crabbed walked through the crew, bumping into those of the sides again.</p><p>"...we be meeting up with Logitech in three days time," A black bearded man said as he grabbed some meat from the small pile in front of him, then with his yellow teeth, he ripped the flesh off the bone almost in one go; before speaking once again to those who were sitting around him,"Him and his crew should have the cages ready by then and-" The twins knocked into the back of the bearded man's head. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" He shouted at the two and shoved them off, making them fall to the ground hard.</p><p>"Bad Mylan!" Todd shouted from the ground but once he saw Mylan's glare he jumped to his feet, and grabbing his brother, he stumbled away.</p><p>The bearded man known as Mylan, ate the last of the meat as he watched the drunken pair bumping into others. Then he threw the bone over his shoulder and reached down for his small pile of meat. But found nothing.</p><p>Looking down, he noticed that all his meat was gone. Outraged the bearded man stood and lashed out at the nearest to him, taking a thinner man by complete surprise as he stuck his pistol under his chin.</p><p>"...and those women there fine looking," A tall, long nose man sneered in remembrance. He was by far the smartest dressed in the crew of pirate; with purples and reds, he was wearing the finest clothes that only a true gentleman would wear. In his long bony fingers held a large cup, filled with rich red wine. "It's a crying shame that we may have to kill them when we go back," he said as he glances in the corner of his eyes, looking at his mate beside him.</p><p>Beside the tall posh-looking man, was a short balding man, holding a bottle of wine that he just only. The tall man sneered as he leaned against his mate, and held out his large cup towards him. His mate, went hurrying to pour some fine wine into the cup.</p><p>"A real shame, Drako." The short man said, nodding his head in agreement over and over. He dropped the now empty bottle and reached for another, opening it as fast as he could, knowing how quick Drako drank.</p><p>Stan was used to this, having been working under him for so many years. Stan himself had no skills in marksmanship, but Drako had an outstanding aim, for which Stan was always awed by.</p><p>Stan looked down, there were still three bottles left of this high-class wine, which only Drako was allowed to drink, thanks to the fact that he was on good terms with their captain.</p><p>As Stan work out what wine he should found for Drako next, another cup was held in front of him and out of instinct, he poured out the wine into the cup filling it up to the top, without looking up. The cup was so big that it could take the whole bottle.</p><p>"I really wanted to have some fun with them." Drako whispered as he smirked to himself; he leaned backward and raised his face to the night's sky, which could be seen through the foliage of the thick forest. He took a long deep gulp of the fine wine. And moved his arm upwards, towards Stan again, who was trying to open another.</p><p>With his cup filled anew he was about to take another gulp, when a body crashed into his side, rocking the cup and spilling the wine to the ground.</p><p>"-HO TOOK IT?" Screamed Mylan at the body of the man, who now laid on the ground in front of the Drako.</p><p>Slowly Drako placed his hands on his knees, and pulled himself up; and even more slowly he turned to Mylan. The breaded man watched with angry eyes, as Drako held his pistol at him. Mylan already had his pistol at the ready.</p><p>Stan nervously look between the two, shaking slightly; a cup went in front of Stan and he poured without thinking, never taking his eyes from what was happening in front of him.</p><p>"You made me drop my wine!" Drako hissed out, pointing a bony finger towards Mylan, "Do you have any idea how much that cost?!" He demanded in rage, and with his other hand jerked his pistol his way, showing him that he still had it held high.</p><p>"You didn't buy it." Mylan said in an uninterested tone, as he came forwards and looked down at the man of laid at Drako's feet. "You stole it, just like everything else here. That moron there, he stole off of his own crew!"</p><p>"I only have one left NOW!" Screamed Drako, slamming his foot to the ground like a spoiled child</p><p>"Wait!" Stan suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet. The two men turned to him, waiting for him to carry on, "There is <em>none </em>left."</p><p>Drako visible gritted his teeth, glaring hard at the bearded man. Mylan now turned his focus on the tall purple dressed man, knowing that there was only one thing for it now: fight!</p><p>The Captain stopped eating and turned his head to face the crew. A moment ago everyone was eating and drinking, their talking and other sounds had all mixed into one and made no sense; now, however, the tone had changed and almost every group was shouting or screaming the same thing. The food was missing.</p><p>"SILENCE!" Buulett roared over his crew as he got to his feet and everyone looked towards him, all were glaring. Buulett took a deep breath and screamed out, "WE HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO FEED A SMALL ARMY! SO SHUT YOUR TRAPS!" Buulett was breathing hard after that, he sat back down.</p><p>"<em>AAAAHHHHHHH! I'M ALIVE AGAIN!</em>" A mysterious voice echoed over the crew. Everyone's head whipped round to the pile of meat that was beside their captain. Buulett's head slowly turned eyes wide, as he realized where it was coming from. "<em>THIS TASTES GRRREAT!</em>"</p><p>Captain Buulett's mountainous pile was half of what it was seconds ago. His jaw dropped in disbelief as he saw the source voice sitting on what was left. A large round belly popped out of a small red vest, that was barely held together; thin arms and legs stuck out of the balloon-like body.</p><p>The stranger was shoving food down his throat without chewing, at surprising speed; bones flew off in every direction. One was thrown towards Buulett, it hit the large man on the top of his head, breaking him of his shock.</p><p>"SHOT HIM!" Buulett screamed out, and forty-six men drew their pistols.</p><p>The balloon-like body shifted slightly, allowing the head to come further into view. There was something upon the head that caused deep shadows and hid the features. Suddenly the wind changed and the glow of the campfire lit up some of the faces; from within the dark shadows, they could make out teeth grinning down at them.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A Ship Load Of Oro</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of many pistols being fired pierced through the woodlands, carrying this noise right to the other end of the island. The pirates ceased firing, watching as all their bullets hit true. They started to grin and sneer at the person stupid enough to steal their food.</p><p>The victory quickly turned into confusion as one of their men fall screaming to the ground, holding a bloody forearm.</p><p>They turned back to the stranger and instead of seeing the outpouring of blood on the round bell, they would see the hold seemingly getting darker and darker with many dents. These 'dents' become pitched black with shadows as they travelled inwards; then as silence over the stunned pirates, an odd noise could be heard, almost like the stretching of rubber.</p><p>Luffy peered from under his straw-hat, watching the men below. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and bought them quickly above his head. The bullets that were stretching within his body sprang out at the same speed as if it came from a pistol; showering the pirates with their own bullets.</p><p>Screams of shocked pain followed, many fell to the ground holding their wounds or passing out from the sheer pain. Those left standing either ran behind their make shaft log seats or stood their ground, firing more rounds. Still not knowing that it would simply rebound.</p><p>Luffy bent his knees and leaped high into the air, sucking lungfuls of breathing as he tried to work off some of his meal; he needed to deflate a little if he was going to fight properly. His belly only went down an inch.</p><p>"<em>Gomu Gomu nooo</em>..." Luffy shouted as he spun above, readying his attack; but these words were lost because of the thundering sounds of the pistols and rifles going off. Then it appeared that many arms came out from balloon, these arms smashed against the tops of the heads of those below.</p><p>"...<em><strong>Rain</strong></em>!" The final part of those words shouted was clearly heard by all who there still standing.</p><p>He stopped his attack, drawing in breath again; his main body lost some more of its roundness, as he replaced the muscles in his arms with the fat stored in his stomach. Landing, he began jogging around the camp with his knees held high. By this time the pirates have seen that their pistols were useless and were now holding knives and daggers.</p><p>Laughing Luffy took long back steps, as some began to slash at the air in front of him. The only thing their random slashes did, helped him lost his troublesome belly.</p><p>"<em>Gomu Gomu nooo</em>..." Luffy cried out pulling his arms to his side, he was now uninterested in their lack of swordsmanship; "...<em><strong> Gatling Gun</strong></em><strong>!</strong>"</p><p>Back to his normal slim figure, Luffy held his hat and ran around faster, laughing. This served only to agitate the angry pirates.</p><p>Luffy halted his mad dash, and standing still for a moment he slowly turned to those left chasing him and gave them a pure evil grin. Then he raised his arms in the head, and began screaming nonsense before running after them; so surprised by this sudden change the pirates ran away from him in fright.</p><p>Luffy stopped. Slowly he glanced to his right, where a giant like a man had a cannon on his shoulder. Luffy blinked as he stared blankly at the man, the face was a void of all emotion. The muscle man roared aloud as he fired, cheering filled the area as the youth left flying outwards towards the trees.</p><p>Grinning Luffy sailed backward in the air and as he reached the woodlands, two long arms stretched out grabbed firmly on two deep-rooted trees. He quickly planted his feet into the ground, it dragged a little bit before they came to a complete stop; his upper body continued to travel backward with the cannonball in his gut, then it could not go only further.</p><p>Luffy laughed through his nose as his body suddenly jerked forwards, bringing the cannonball with him. Soon he was in the air again overlooking the pirates, legs bent, and pulled up on his rear; his arms were coming from behind and forced him down as they snapped back into shape.</p><p>The cannonball went passed the one who fired it and caused a great explosion sending pirates flying everywhere. Luffy had landed on his knees, slowly he got to his feet and glanced around at the moaning and still pirates. Almost the whole camp was down for the count.</p><p>He looked over to where the meat was a pile, beside it he found the captain holding a pistol at him.</p><p>"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" The Captain screamed out in fear, but he could not move from his high spot on top rocks, without help.</p><p>"I'm Luffy!" Luffy said placing his hands on his hips while giving him his best smile. "Nice to meet you!"</p><p>"A hunter?" Screamed the panicked Captain, who calmed as two pirates hurried over to him. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"</p><p>"No. A pirate." Luffy said proudly still smiling at the man, before pulsing his lips in annoyance "And all I wanted was some food. You attacked me first!" Luffy frowned he remembered.</p><p>"That was my food!" Roared the Captain as he levelled his pistol at Luffy. Luffy stood there, waiting. He was not going to attack unless he was attacked first.</p><p>"<em>Shishishishi</em>! Come on!" Luffy laughed out as he continues to stare at the pirate captain, "There is lots of meat! Don't be so <em>greedy</em>!" He stressed the last part out, causing the man to grit his teeth. Then the captain fired his pistol.</p><p>Luffy never let this bullet hit him, instead he easily sidestepped the bullet's path and ran at the man. "<em>Gomu Gomu nooo</em>..." Luffy said as he jumped up those rocks, leaving one fist stretched behind him as he went; as he reached in front of the captain Luffy rolled his shoulder and causing the fist to rocket their way. "...<em><strong>Bullet!</strong></em>" His fist smacked into the captain's nose. The large man sat there for a moment before falling sidewards and started to fell down the rocks.</p><p>Luffy blinked, before frowning. There had been two members of the crew below him and they nothing to help their captain nor did they seem to care that he was down.</p><p>Luffy heard something hauling towards him, and he turned right in time for a crocked dagger struck his upper left arm; if he had not moved the dagger would have gone straight through his heart. He never flinched at the pain, merely grinned at the new arrival as he pulled out the dagger and let it drop to the ground.</p><p>There at the woodland's edge was a tall man dressed half in black and half his white, in his left had was a long pistol, while in his right was a short double-edged sword. The man was breathing hard as if he had been running from afar off.</p><p>Luffy turned his attention to the two neither side the tall man, there were identical blonde men each holding rifles. These two men also seemed out of breath.</p><p>Luffy carefully studied everyone's reaction from under the shadow of his hat; the two in front of the captain looked far too pleased by the presence of the new man arrival then he liked. The two twins were ready to make a defends to the black/white-dressed man. And the large muscle giant man had gotten back on his feet and was hurrying over to him also, his new showed that he was waiting for some kind of orders.</p><p>'This is the captain?' Luffy thought as he glanced back to the large fat man, before returning his eyes to the black/white-dressed man. 'Seems like it.'</p><p>The new one Luffy now dubbed as 'captain' fired. Luffy eyes widen slightly as he shot right through the dagger's wound, pieces of his rubbery flesh came off the other end.</p><p>"<em>Smart</em>..." Luffy mumbled in an undertone, he watched as those around the man looked at the man in understanding.</p><p>The twins ran forward and carefully taking aim they fired; this time Luffy was ready, knowing what they were aiming for. He also ran at them, they did not seem surprised by this, which shock them as the mad youth suddenly doing a handstand.</p><p>"<em>Gomu Gomu nooooo</em>..." Luffy hissed out upside-down and twisted his body, with force he sent one of his legs they way. "...<em><strong>Whip!</strong></em>" The twin had no time to move out of the way; one smack into the other and together they were slammed against a tree. The leg came back with a snap and making he jerked upwards and out the way of an oncoming cannon.</p><p>Luffy crawled over the ground for a moment, laughing loudly as more bullets came from somewhere. Looking up he stares at a purple dressed man, aiming at him. Beside this man was a shorter one, hopping up and down, cheering the taller on. One bullet was fired at him, again in his wound bleed.</p><p>Jumping out the way of another oncoming cannonball, Luffy gritted his teeth and stared at the tall man with the strange little man. He was about to attack the tall and short when something caught his eyes. Luffy threw himself up and out of the way of the short sword.</p><p>"<em>Shishishishishi</em>." Luffy showed his teeth and gums at the taller man, laughing through his grin. Luffy was an expert at reading people's skills, even if he saw them only for a moment. And he could tell, that this man, while he knew a little, he was not as confident with his swordsmanship than with his marksmanship. Something that he could use against him, if given the chance.</p><p>Bouncing backwards to get some space between himself and the sword swinger. "<em>Gomu Gomu noo</em>..." Luffy said leaning forward slightly and the 'captain' prepared himself, "...<em><strong>Pistol!</strong></em>" he let his good arm fly but instead of hitting the 'captain', his fist hit a different target; the tall purple dressed man. This took the black/white dressed 'captain' by complete surprise, but he still thought fast in raising and firing his pistol once more.</p><p>The bullet passed painfully through Luffy's arm. But Luffy just grinned, knowing that just would happen, and letting it happen. Now Luffy could focus more on the skilled man. The 'captain' seemed aware of this also.</p><p>"Let's finish this soon..." Luffy said as he let out a rude yawn, he was really and truly sleepy; the 'captain', however, took this as an insult and gave Luffy an enraged look, he slashed out.</p><p>"Tiny! Stand back he is mine!" Dice shouted to the giant, who gave him an unsure look but lowed his cannon.</p><p>Luffy dodged the sword and jumped out the way then he bought his pistol round. Suddenly Luffy's eyes widen, his mouth dropped in shocked horror, "<em>EHHH</em>!?" he shouted as he pointed to something behind the man's head.</p><p>The tall man ducked as he turned, only to found nothing. Too late he realized his mistake, the straw-hat wearing man's forehead came slamming down on his own.</p><p>Dice fell to the ground, pistol and sword landed somewhere beside him. He was fighting to stay conscious, but gazing up he saw that eerily grin once again.</p><p>Luffy grabbed hold of both of the man's shoulders, and threw his head backward he could hear the last man standing screaming at him but he did not stop.</p><p>"<em>Gomu Gomu no...</em>" Luffy called out as he forces his neck as far as it would go, letting it go it flew towards the man's forehead once more, "...<em><strong>BELL</strong></em>!" he finished with a roar.</p><p>The large muscle man let out his own roar and changed at Luffy, with his arms outstretched. Luffy met with this semi-giant with his arms up. Fingers laced together as the rubber man and muscle man both forced together backwards.</p><p>Luffy won this match of strength by lifting the man up into the air by their attached fingers, then jumped high into the air, much higher than the rocks mast the fat man had been sitting on. Mid-air he tossed the muscle man downwards and swung his good arm backward and to the heaven, twisting and spinning it as it went higher and higher.</p><p>"<em>Gomu Gomu nooo</em>..." Luffy roared out his normal saying before naming the attack, "..<em><strong>Rifle!</strong></em>" Luffy's fist hit just under the man's chest, knocking the wind out of him. The arm continued to twist with force until the semi-giant crashed into the ground.</p><p>Luffy glanced around, the only one left was a short little man who was now hiding behind some trees, the two men who stood by the fat man earlier were nowhere to be seen. But everyone else was out cold.</p><p>Luffy looked down at his wound and glared. It was not easy to sow up rubber, as it kept pulling away from the needle, the best way was to burn the rubbery flesh together. And the area where it was, was going to be hard to get to.</p><p>Shaking his head, Luffy tears off part of his vest making sure they were long strips. It took some time to wrapped, he did the best he could; biting the last part with his teeth to tie it together.</p><p>Then he hurried over to where the food and with his good arm, stretched around it pulling it all towards himself. He opened his mouth wide and shoved it in, swallowing everything that went in whole, bones and all.</p><p>The sight was too much for the shaking short man, he fainted dead away. Luffy laughed at this, before taking off in a flat out run for the pirate's ship.</p><p>Luffy ran through the darkness, passed the never-ending trees, over the hidden roots that could not be seen by normal eyes.</p><p>Luffy's eternal grin widen as he saw the lanterns of the ship. He ran straight up the ramp, that was between the island and the ship and slowed down as he came onto the main deck. He had been on a similar ship like this one and knew the basic layout.</p><p>Luffy walked towards the Captain's Room, during this no one came and challenge him being there. There was still no one about, other than the two that must be still sleeping somewhere on the ship.</p><p>Luffy entered the Captain's Room and quickly made his way for the deck that was facing the door as he walked in. On there were many papers, a few books, ink, and maps.</p><p>He picked up one of the maps, did had been freshly made, though the ink was dry. He glanced at the 'X' mark on one of the squares of the island, and looking down, he noticed another map, one of the whole of the East Blue. A 'X' was over one of the islands, an island shaped like one of the smaller map.</p><p>"Mmmmmm...interesting..." Luffy said aloud as he began rolling the maps together, before shoving it down his jeans. Laughing loudly, he started looking through other things before he went looking for their supplies he was planning to steal. He needed to stock Meruhen Gou with food.</p><p>Then Luffy paused and slowly turned his head to the corner of the room. He bites down on his lower lip folding it inside his mouth and blinked. Luffy just found a shipload of money, notes, and gold that were piled up high before him.</p><p>"The only thing I have to worry about now," Luffy said with a laugh as he walked over, "Is how much will fit on Meruhen!"</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. In Need Of Sleep!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The heavens above moved fast as high winds blow about with alarming speed, these winds carried with them storm clouds in their wake. The rain had begun sometime had morning, and still, it poured down in its bucket loads; the thunder had started in the afternoon, it rocked the skies with its sudden booms. And there came thunder's eternal partner. Lightning.</p><p>Through the restaurant's large glass window, Luffy's black eyes watched this spellbinding force of nature.</p><p>The day after he had sailed off in Meruhen Gou, the pirates had followed. He had taken to long gathering the supplies he needed from the pirates and they had come to while he was leaving.</p><p>Thankfully Meruhen Gou had been fast enough to miss the oncoming cannonballs; but now his body was completely numb from the cold rain, so the warmth of the restaurant was a welcoming feeling and now he was not in it, he could enjoy the scene before him.</p><p>Luffy glanced put the restaurant's window with tired eyes, having gotten no sleep from the night before nor this day. Being overtired was a pain.</p><p>This place was like a haven of serenity or was that from the strange noise in his ears. The cannonballs had deafened him, being so close. One crashing into his body he could take, but having ten whistlings at once was a nightmare. It also made waves around him, almost knocking him off Meruhen.</p><p>Leaning back Luffy choose to relax and continue to enjoy the experience of being in this high-class restaurant that was for some reason, in the middle of the sea.</p><p>Smiling lightly he gazed at his empty plates that filled the whole table, they were piled up so high, that he could no longer see any part of the restaurant. Only out the window. Luffy's smile turned into a grin, the money he used to pay for his big meal, was that of the pirate's.</p><p>Nature itself seemed to be on his side that afternoon. Even if it did leave him cold, a sudden gust had taken him off course and away from the pirates, they had not been able to turn their ship fast enough.</p><p>Six waitresses came with large trolleys, each one moving the plates off the table. Bit by bit Luffy could see around the restaurant once again. Pirates and other travellers were all sitting and having their dinner. This place not only offered food and somewhere to drop anchor, but also rooms for the night and for wounds to be looked at.</p><p>Another thing that is the cause of his tiredness. Blood. He never got the change to seal his wound properly and made a bloody mess all over his little deck. Luffy was surprised he had not fainted. After explaining to the doctor that he was made who rubber, they quickly did all the things Luffy asked of them.</p><p>Luffy blinked. And blinked again.</p><p>On the table side to him was a green-haired man, with three swords. He was sure he had seen him somewhere before.</p><p>Frowning Luffy continued to openly watch the man, who was eating his dinner. Becoming bored with staring at the swordsman, he glanced around at the people on the other tables. They too were eyeing up the swordsman.</p><p>Luffy dragged himself forwards and leaned with his elbows on his table, studying the man a little more carefully now, seeing as the pirates of the room must here found him a treat to him.</p><p>'And I did watch him even before I noticed everyone's else reaction,' Luffy thought as his eyes narrowed at the man, 'I really not want any more trouble just yet. I'm to exhausted.'</p><p>The swordsman suddenly pushed backward and every pirate in the room tensed. Luffy placed his head down on his folded hands now and watched as the man stalked through the room and over to the main counter.</p><p>"Booked a room for the night?" Luffy asked the man, even though he was afar off from him. The swordsman disappeared down the hall, to where the rooms there.</p><p>Sitting straight up again Luffy turned back to the window. The storm was raging on, only now those clouds were getting darker with the setting of the sun, the lightning flashes lit up everything, making it look like the world was on fire.</p><p>Luffy's head was pounding like mad but he needed to stay awake a little bit longer, even if it was well over a day since he last had any sleep.</p><p>He pulled out his map, the one that Sabo had given him, and then unrolled the one he had taken from the pirates. Sabo's map was of the whole of the East Blue, with only a few places blacken out as these parts were uncharted. The pirate's map was a lot smaller and was only part of the East Blue.</p><p>Luffy felt very grateful towards Sabo, who lovingly taught him how to read a map. Sabo had endless patience with him and it took Luffy some time, but now it was worth it.</p><p>"I should tell Sabo next time I see him." Luffy said to himself with a wide grin, "Maybe buy him something nice! <em>Shishishi!</em>"</p><p>Luffy studied the maps together and slowly plotted his course, then he let out a loud yawn and looked up. There was a blonde man offering him some coffee; thanking him with a big toothy grin, Luffy took it and carried on with his work.</p><p>As he sipped his coffee, not that he liked it but he needs it, he saw that almost everyone was gone. A few were left over, doing the same thing. He smiled, the staff here must it used to sailors readying themselves into the night.</p><p>A flashlight struck nearby, causing him to jump slightly. Luffy half wondered if his Meruhen was okay out there.</p><p>Suddenly a different source of light came in the window, and Luffy was surprised to see that the storm was over and the clouds had parted. There was a full moon tonight. Looking up he also came to see the stars were visible and very bright. Meaning it was a cold night.</p><p>Luffy was very <em>very </em>glad he came across 'The Floating Restaurant Baratie', otherwise, he was have been cold, wet, hungry, and would have no doubt spending another night without sleep.</p><p>Yawning he rolled up his maps and stood, one of the staff saw him and started to make their way quickly to the main counter.</p><p>"Ah!" Luffy suddenly said as he finally remembered, "The Pirate Hunter!"</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. In Need Of Sleep!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The heavens above moved fast as high winds blow about with alarming speed, these winds carried with them storm clouds in their wake. The rain had begun sometime had morning, and still, it poured down in its bucket loads; the thunder had started in the afternoon, it rocked the skies with its sudden booms. And there came thunder's eternal partner. Lightning.</p><p>Through the restaurant's large glass window, Luffy's black eyes watched this spellbinding force of nature.</p><p>The day after he had sailed off in Meruhen Gou, the pirates had followed. He had taken to long gathering the supplies he needed from the pirates and they had come to while he was leaving.</p><p>Thankfully Meruhen Gou had been fast enough to miss the oncoming cannonballs; but now his body was completely numb from the cold rain, so the warmth of the restaurant was a welcoming feeling and now he was not in it, he could enjoy the scene before him.</p><p>Luffy glanced put the restaurant's window with tired eyes, having gotten no sleep from the night before nor this day. Being overtired was a pain.</p><p>This place was like a haven of serenity or was that from the strange noise in his ears. The cannonballs had deafened him, being so close. One crashing into his body he could take, but having ten whistlings at once was a nightmare. It also made waves around him, almost knocking him off Meruhen.</p><p>Leaning back Luffy choose to relax and continue to enjoy the experience of being in this high-class restaurant that was for some reason, in the middle of the sea.</p><p>Smiling lightly he gazed at his empty plates that filled the whole table, they were piled up so high, that he could no longer see any part of the restaurant. Only out the window. Luffy's smile turned into a grin, the money he used to pay for his big meal, was that of the pirate's.</p><p>Nature itself seemed to be on his side that afternoon. Even if it did leave him cold, a sudden gust had taken him off course and away from the pirates, they had not been able to turn their ship fast enough.</p><p>Six waitresses came with large trolleys, each one moving the plates off the table. Bit by bit Luffy could see around the restaurant once again. Pirates and other travellers were all sitting and having their dinner. This place not only offered food and somewhere to drop anchor, but also rooms for the night and for wounds to be looked at.</p><p>Another thing that is the cause of his tiredness. Blood. He never got the change to seal his wound properly and made a bloody mess all over his little deck. Luffy was surprised he had not fainted. After explaining to the doctor that he was made who rubber, they quickly did all the things Luffy asked of them.</p><p>Luffy blinked. And blinked again.</p><p>On the table side to him was a green-haired man, with three swords. He was sure he had seen him somewhere before.</p><p>Frowning Luffy continued to open watched the man, who was eating his dinner. Becoming bored with staring at the swordsman, he glanced around at the people on the other tables. They too were eyeing up the swordsman.</p><p>Luffy dragged himself forwards and leaned with his elbows on his table, studying the man a little more carefully now, seeing as the pirates of the room must here found him a treat to him.</p><p>'And I did watch him even before I noticed everyone's else reaction,' Luffy thought as his eyes narrowed at the man, 'I really not want any more trouble just yet. I'm to exhausted.'</p><p>The swordsman suddenly pushed backward and every pirate in the room tensed. Luffy placed his head down on his folded hands now, and watched as the man stalked through the room and over to the main counter.</p><p>"Booked a room for the night?" Luffy asked the man, even though he was afar off from him. The swordsman disappeared down the hall, to where the rooms there.</p><p>Sitting straight up again Luffy turned back to the window. The storm was raging on, only now those clouds were getting darker with the setting of the sun, the lightning flashes lit up everything, making it look like the world was on fire.</p><p>Luffy's head was pounding like mad but he needed to stay awake a little bit longer, even if it was well over a day since he last had any sleep.</p><p>He pulled out his map, the one that Sabo had given him and then unrolled the one he had taken from the pirates. Sabo's map was of the whole of the East Blue, with only a few places blacken out as these parts were uncharted. The pirate's map was a lot smaller and was only of part of the East Blue.</p><p>Luffy felt very grateful towards Sabo, who lovingly taught him how to read a map. Sabo had endless patience with him and it took Luffy some time, but now it was worth it.</p><p>"I should tell Sabo next time I see him." Luffy said to himself with a wide grin, "Maybe buy him something nice! <em>Shishishi!</em>"</p><p>Luffy studied the maps together and slowly plotted his course, then he let out a loud yawn and looked up. There was a blonde man offering him some coffee; thanking him with a big toothy grin, Luffy took it and carried on with his work.</p><p>As he sipped his coffee, not that he liked it but he needs it, he saw that almost everyone was gone. A few were left over, doing the same thing. He smiled, the staff here must it used to sailors readying themselves into the night.</p><p>A flashlight struck nearby, causing him to jump slightly. Luffy half wondered if his Meruhen was okay out there.</p><p>Suddenly a different source of light came in the window, and Luffy was surprised to see that the storm was over and the clouds had parted. There was a full moon tonight. Looking up he also came to see the stars were visible and very bright. Meaning it was a cold night.</p><p>Luffy was very <em>very </em>glad he came across 'The Floating Restaurant Baratie', otherwise, he was have been cold, wet, hungry and would have no doubt spending another night without sleep.</p><p>Yawning he rolled up his maps and stood, one of the staff saw him and started to make their way quickly to the main counter.</p><p>"Ah!" Luffy suddenly said as he finally remembered, "The Pirate Hunter!"</p>
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